Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

"I thought hope had vanished. But hope was a tricky thing."

Amal, oldest daughter of a Pakistani farmer who raises sugar cane and oranges, loves school and dreams of becoming a teacher. She is a bold young girl and one day makes the fatal mistake of publicly defying Jawad Sahib,son of the village's powerful landlord. He extracts his vengeance. Amal is removed from her home and family and is impressed into indentured servitude. She becomes the personal servant to Nasreen Baji, wife of overlord Khan Sahib and mother of the man she boldly withstood in the marketplace.She learns of dark secrets hidden within the walls of the Sahib residence. With careful, deliberate planning, she is exposes the landlord and his son without endangering herself or any of the household servants. Her courage saves the lives and fortunes of those closest to her and impacts the surrounding communities.Aisha Saeed's eye-opening story of one girl's fight for justice and equality is stunning.

"No one would ever know it was a girl who helped save our villages.​But I knew."

Additional Resources

Let’s Hear It for the Girls

"change, no matter how good and necessary,​came with a price."

A terrific fiction/nonfiction book pairing is Amal Unbound​and I Am Malala. Like Amal, Malala Yousafzai was attacked as a young girl living in Pakistan. After she recovered from a gunshot wound, she began her tireless efforts to build schools and advocate for peace. She is the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Poetry

"Pakistan was founded by the dreams of poets."

Amal loves books and especially enjoys poetry. She treasures the works of Hafiz, a fourteenth century Persian poet. Many of his poems explore the essence of love. His poetic expressions are often quoted and frequently appear as proverbs. Here a few quotes on display in Etsy shops.